The healthy eye is filled with a fluid called aqueous humor. The ciliary body, located in the posterior chamber of the eye, produces aqueous humor and the Canal of Schlelmm, which is located at the periphery of the anterior chamber, releases aqueous humor into the trabecular meshwork. When the eye does not function properly to drain aqueous humor, an excess of aqueous humor may become present in the eye and the intraocular pressure may rise. The increased intraocular pressure associated with this excess, also known as glaucoma, is the leading cause of blindness. Glaucoma may be treated by medicine and/or by surgery.
Many procedures for treating glaucoma involve increasing the rate of drainage of aqueous humor from the eye. More particularly, many procedures for treating glaucoma involve implanting, injecting, placing or otherwise introducing a drainage device to the eye to increase the rate of drainage of aqueous humor thereform. Of the many devices and methods currently used to introduced such a drainage to the eye, none has become universally accepted.